TIME AND TIDE WAITS FOR NO ONE
by prettyHermione
Summary: No one can change destiny. Our fate cannot be affected even by a time turner because fate already knows whether a time turner is going to be used or not. No one can change the tides of time because Time and Tide waits for no one.
1. The end of the war

**A/N: **Thank you for deciding to read my story. I do not own any characters associated with Harry Potter; they would all belong to JKR! Please read and review.

NOTE: It follows the deathly hallows but disregards the Epilogue.

...

_**Time & Tide waits for no one**_

**SUMMARY**:

Harry Potter had just defeated Lord Voldemort & the magical world was finally at peace. But Hermione's life had started to become more confusing than ever

"_**I have always wondered about love but I never ever fathomed that I would fall for my best friend"-**_**Hermione Granger**

**Chapter 1: The end of the war**

Life is pretty confusing at times, thought Hermione Granger as she walked away from the great hall after the final battle at Hogwarts. Harry Potter had just defeated Lord Voldemort & the magical world was finally at peace.

The sixth year at Hogwarts had strained their friendship because of the relationship between Harry and Ginny & the tension between her & Ron, but that didn't mean she cared less about Harry. Of course, she would rather have Harry with Ginny rather than any stupid girl like Cho who never understood their friendship. Moreover she really liked Ginny and considered her as the sister she never had.

When Voldemort announced that he had killed Harry, a part of her died. She still couldn't believe she had almost lost Harry. He was always her best friend, the best friend who stood by her side in times of need. Ron was her best friend too. But they rowed like enemies. After their kiss in the Room of Requirement…maybe they will become more.

After the demise of Lord Voldemort she had joined the Weasleys in their grief. They had lost Fred and Molly wanted all the family members to be together. Ginny and Ron were in tears and George and Harry were nowhere to be seen.

She knew Harry was sad. He had lost Lupin who was his last remaining connection to his father. She also knew that he was somewhere outside on the school grounds trying to relieve his pain. She slowly disengaged from the group in order to go outside and search for Harry. As she suspected, he was sitting beside Dumbledore's tomb looking at the half moon which was faintly visible over the horizon.

She put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hermione what are you doing down here? You should be in the castle with Ron." Said Harry without turning back to look at her face.

"I could say the same for you Harry."

"Yeah, I know" and he became quiet.

"Harry I know you lost Professor Lupin …"

"Hermione I don't want to talk about it."

"Don't shut your friends out Harry. Don't shut me out…I can't bear to see you like this."

"WHAT SHOULD I SAY HERMIONE? I AM SORRY THAT HE DIED OR PERHAPS IT WAS A GOOD THING BECAUSE HE IS NOW FINALLY FREE OF THE CURSE THAT TORTURED HIM THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE."

"Harry I didn't mean that…."

"I know Hermione but you don't know what it is like to loose the people whom you love during every stage of your life."

"I know what it is like to loose the people I love. Just because I never mentioned my family affairs with you and Ron doesn't mean that I had a really good life."

"I….I am sorry Hermione. I shouldn't have shouted at you. I feel really guilty that I wasn't as close to Lupin as I was with Sirius."

"Harry don't you dare blame yourself. You always had the burden of saving the world on your shoulders."

"Yeah, my saving people thing…."

"Harry, Professor Lupin is happy wherever he is. He is now with his friends. At least he got to marry Tonks and live his life a little bit. Also, he had not left you alone. He left you a special someone to remember him by…Teddy. The Marauder blood still lives in both of you. "

"I know Hermione. I am happy that Teddy is alive, But I still feel guilty that if I had killed Voldemort a bit earlier, then, Remus and Tonks would have been alive and Teddy could have grown in a comfortable environment with his parents."

"Harry, you are a human being. You did all you could. Think about the countless lives you have saved in the near future. If you haven't defeated Voldemort today, he would have killed even more people. If you need more proof, look at me. If it weren't for you and Ron, I would have died in my first year. Harry, don't dwell on bad things, think about the good things you did for the countless people around you. "

"Hermione you still don't know the half of it. Snape…."

"I know that you are really confused about him. He loved your mother, Harry. To love or to be loved is never a bad thing."

"I understand that Hermione. I am not ashamed of the fact that Snape loved my mother. I find it impossible to believe that the person I hated second after Voldemort was my mother's best friend."

"Everything in life works in the form of a cycle. One action leads to a chain of events. If you erase a particular action in the past, then the events following it will be affected. If your mother and Professor Snape weren't best friends, he would never have learned to love her. Snape's love for your mother not only saved your life but led to the ultimate demise of Voldemort."

--

The day of the funeral:

Hermione's POV:

It was the day of the funeral. The sky was quite cloudy as if it was about to rain. The atmosphere mirrored the grief of our hearts. But a ray of sunshine could be seen amidst all this gloom. It made me think that life may be sorrowful at present but there was still some hope for the future. All was not lost. Most of us are alive and we have our whole life ahead of us. Maybe…it held some happiness for me in the near future.

I was standing their apart from the Weasley's so that I wouldn't be an intruder in their grief. I knew the Weasley's considered me as a part of their family, but every family needs some 'alone' time during such situations.

Mr. and Mrs.Weasley were in tears. My heart still grieves for them. Bill was being comforted by Fleur. Ron, Percy, Charlie and George were huddled together. They were trying to comfort George whose grief knew no bounds. He had lost his one constant companion in life. There was no more Fred. Even George with his joking mannerisms wouldn't be his usual self without him because there was no George without Fred. Suddenly it felt as if our whole life had become dull.

Harry was still grieving from the death of Fred, Professor Lupin and Professor Snape. But after Yesterday's talk, Harry had tried to forget his grief by offering comfort to Ginny and Mrs. Tonks. Mr. Tonks had just taken a wailing Teddy from her arms but wasn't successful in calming him down.

"Mr. Tonks, please give Teddy to me. I will try to calm him down."

"Thank you Miss. Granger" he said after handling the baby to her.

She slowly took Teddy in her arms and walked towards the backyard, hushing him gently as she went. The baby astonishingly stopped crying and went asleep in her arms. She was always amazing with babies. She was about to sit on the shade of a nearby tree when she heard Ron's voice behind her.

"Hermione…."

They sat by the tree. Both of them were silent for sometime.

When she saw Ron's saddened yet brave face, she couldn't bear the silence any more and said" Ron, don't u dare try to put that false facade of bravery in front of me. I am your friend. I know you too well to believe you stupid little act. I know that you are hurting. Yesterday, I asked Harry to not shut me out of his life and I am asking the same thing from you."

"I know Hermione and I am sorry. Actually, I should say sorry to Harry for all the horrible things I have done to him. I should have trusted him explicitly during our fourth year and during the horcrux hunt."

"Ron mistakes happen to each and every person. A person's greatness lies in understanding his mistakes and trying to avoid the same in the future."

"I don't know how Harry coped with all this loss. He had lost all the people he loved…..his parents, Sirius, Dumbledore and Lupin. Yet he tried to be strong during all these times and finally vanquished Voldemort."

"Ron, I don't know how he did it. Harry is an incredibly courageous and loyal friend. There is no one like Harry in this whole world. He would put his very life in front of the crossfire to save the people he loves. He is truly precious…."

--

END NOTES:

I HOPE U LIKE IT.

CRITISICM IS ALWAYS WELCOME


	2. Hope still shines

**A/N: **Thank you for deciding to read my story. I do not own any characters associated with Harry Potter; they would all belong to JKR! Please read and review.

NOTE: It follows the deathly hallows but disregards the Epilogue.

This is my first Fan fiction. So please be patient with me.

Special thanks to FIBINACI who gave me my first review.

**Chapter notes**

This chapter deals more on the friendship between Ginny and Hermione and as the chapter heading says Hope still shines.

_**Time & Tide waits for no one**_

**SUMMARY**:

Harry Potter had just defeated Lord Voldemort & the magical world was finally at peace. But Hermione's life had started to become more confusing than ever

**Chapter 2: Hope still shines**

Hope comes like a shining light  
Hope comes when there is no way in sight  
When you lose your heart you lose it all  
But Hope is always there to catch you when you fall

When you think you can go on no more  
Just hang on you never know what Hope has in store

Hope may bring someone new  
Hope may bring someone you choose  
Hope may bring a new friend to you

Hope may bring you your love.

Back to the story:

Life is really mysterious. One minute you think you know somebody but the next minute you think you don't even know yourself. One minute you think you have your future well planned out but the next minute you find that nothing goes as planned.

The clock had just struck eleven. Everybody had gone to sleep early that night. Hermione was trying to fall asleep but was finding great difficulty in doing so. All the events of the past few days were going through her mind. Her conversations with Harry and Ron occupied a primary place in her mind. Another chief concern was the issue of how to confront her parents about the war and return them back to England. She couldn't still fathom how they would react. She didn't know how she was going to tell them that their only daughter had made them forget their identities.

Still feeling quite restless, she started to get up from her bed and go downstairs to read some book to relieve her mind.

"Couldn't sleep huh…?"

"Ginny, you are awake!"

"I couldn't sleep too…"

Both of them became silent for some time.

"What is wrong, Ginny? You look quite troubled."

"Everything…my life, Fred, my parents, brothers and…Harry."

"What about Harry?"

"I don't know Hermione. It is like there is a great barrier in between us. Last year at school was horrible without you people. The punishments Snape and the other death eaters gave me were nothing compared to being apart from Harry. I know we were a couple for just two months. It started as a crush for me. ..a crush which any little girl would have for the savior of the wizarding world. I couldn't even speak properly to him without stuttering. Nobody knows it more than you. When he finally noticed me, it felt like I was in heaven. When he broke it off with me, it felt as if I was seeing my worst nightmare. Still I felt happy to know that he cared about me. I still don't know much about him. Even when we were a couple, I just knew Harry Potter and not the Harry who hid behind his emotional mask. I saw traces of the real Harry and it made me want to get to know more about him. I tried to make him open up but he became even more closed up after that. I thought that after the war he would try to be more open with me. At the funeral, I knew he was hurting but he still tried to help me. I love him for that but it hurts to know that he wouldn't ever share his sorrows or past miseries with me."

"Ginny, give him some time to work out everything. All his life, he had lived in a life full of pretences. He lost his parents when he was just one year old. He had a loveless life at the Dursley's. They never understood him. He was just a freak in their eyes. Imagine how a person would feel when they find out that their identity had been hidden from them throughout their life. Imagine how a person would feel after finding out that the most evil wizard of all time was trying to kill him. Imagine how Harry would feel after knowing that his Godfather had been sentenced for a crime he had never committed. Imagine how a person would feel after finding out that he has to fulfill a prophency to kill Voldemort after destroying his Horcruxes. He faced all these situations and much more. Harry never had a normal life. He had always tried to keep quiet about his burdens. He would be willing to deal with all the evils in this world just to protect his loved ones. Nobody can blame him for having some trust issues because he had a really difficult life. But trust me Ginny; he is a truly remarkable guy. It still amazes me how he turned out to be a good guy after bearing such burdens in life. Please don't give up on him."

"I am not planning to give up on him. I know he is remarkable but ………. I don't think I deserve him."

--

As the girls were having a conversation, Harry too was finding it difficult to fall asleep. He may have acted like a mature person after that talk with Hermione, but that didn't mean he could forget his past sorrows that easily. Voldemort may have died but it was impossible to heal the scars he had left behind. He missed his parents. He wished he could remember the good times when he was a kid. He wished for someone to care for him as his parents and Sirius did. He wished for someone to share his joys and sorrows. He knew he was being a hypocrite and he had the Weasley's and Hermione. But a person can always hope for a better future….right?

--

After their tiring talk, Ginny and Hermione both fell asleep at about 3'o clock in the morning.

As a result, both of them were in such a deep sleep that they didn't hear the knock on the door at 8'o clock in the morning.

Suddenly, Mrs. Weasley's voice could be heard through the door

"GINNY, HERMIONE WAKE UP."

After that her footsteps could be heard going downstairs.

A sleepy Hermione rolled out of her bed and tried to wake up Ginny.

"GIN, wake up."

"Just five more minutes, mum"

"Gin, wake up. We are already quite late. By the way I am Hermione and not your mum."

"Sorry, just five more minutes please."

"Ok, have it your own way." she said and pushed Ginny out of her bed.

"OUCH…!" Ginny said after landing on the floor with a thump.

"You are going to pay for that, Hermione". She suddenly stood up took her pillow and threw it at Hermione. But she dodged it and ran out of the room.

"I am not going to let you escape this time" shouted Ginny following her out of the room.

--

While the pillow fight was going on in the girl's room, Harry was trying to wake a snoring Ron up.

He had pushed him and even thrown a pillow at him to wake him up. He had even shouted at the top of his lungs but to no avail.

Suddenly he had an idea. He slowly crept towards him and whispered loudly "WON WON I AM BACK."

On hearing this Ron stumbled out of his bed as if he had just woken up from a terrible nightmare only to see a laughing Harry.

" OI! Quit playing Harry. You really frightened me. I thought I was still with Lavender for a moment."

"HA HA HA HA HA, you …should have …..seen …your face… It looked as if you were seeing thousands of dementors at once."

"Harry, you don't know her. She was really a nightmare."

"The last time I heard you saying that was about Hermione. But you like her now."

"Harry, trust me lavender was ten times worse than Hermione ever was."

"Then why did you go out with her. I know you did it to make Hermione jealous, but still…"

"It was just a lapse of good sense on my part."

"That was a pretty good excuse. But the problem is you never had any good sense…oops...i forgot…you always had a good sense on eating habits"

"Harry, stop pulling my leg."

"Then why did you say u had to date Lavender to make Hermione jealous."

"Hey, I made a serious mistake. But now I don't have to resort to such stupid things to win a girl."

"Of course you won't have to resort to such things….. only because you have that book on girls."

"HARRY…."

--

END NOTES: I kept Mr.Tonks alive. As 'fibinaci' rightly told me in the review, I seriously think that he could have easily escaped to the muggle world instead of roaming all around the country with Dean and the goblins.

PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW.

Criticism is always welcome.


	3. Life goes on

**A/N: **Thank you for deciding to read my story. I do not own any characters associated with Harry Potter; they would all belong to JKR! Please read and review.

_**I apologize to all my readers for the late update.**_

Special thanks to PJ littlefoot, Fibinaci, lily, fiddle, hip hop and cool for their kind reviews.

Hope you will like this chapter.

**...**

**CHAPTER 3**

**LIFE GOES ON…..**

**...**

**(After five days)**

"Hey everybody! How was your day?" asked a thoroughly exhausted Mr. Weasley as he stepped out of the fireplace later that night.

"Arthur, what happened? You look really tired" said Mrs. Weasley

"It was a really busy day at the Ministry. Shacklebolt passed on a new bill at the Wizengamot. All the Hogwarts students are to return back to school this year. Even those students who attended the school last year under Voldemort's regime were asked to repeat their year" replied Mr. Weasley.

"What?...we have to go back to school again? Bloody Hell!" said Ron.

"Ronald Bilious Weasley, How many times do I have to ask you to not repeat that word in front of me?" asked Mrs. Weasley looking quite annoyed.

"Sorry Mum…………"

"All of your letters will arrive by owl within two or three days and term will start by September the first as usual" interrupted Mr. Weasley, trying to prevent the impending fight.

"But Mr. Weasley, isn't Hogwarts still in a bad shape after the war?" asked Harry.

"Yes, Harry. But the Magical maintenance group has already started the reconstruction work" replied Mr. Weasley.

Hermione was sitting there with a big smile on her face on hearing that her beloved school was going to be opened.

She suddenly asked "But Mr. Weasley, is the new curriculum going to be different because of the recent war"

"Yes, they are going to upgrade the defense subject. This war had made them more aware about the importance of the fight against the dark arts" replied Mr. Weasley.

"Oh! But I have already prepared myself according to last year's curriculum" murmured Hermione quite dejectedly.

Harry and Ron, who were sitting on either side of her, grinned at each other on hearing this.

Hermione, on seeing their interaction, slapped them hard on their hands.

"OUCH! BLOODY ……." Ron almost yelled while Harry rubbed on his arm.

"RONALD WEASLEY, I ASKED YOU TO NOT REPEAT THE B-WORD IN THIS HOUSE" thundered Mrs. Weasley's voice.

"I am sorry mum" replied Ron meekly.

Hermione smiled at him; on hearing Mrs. Weasley scolding him.

Ron just scowled at her while Harry sniggered.

"The dinner is ready. You will know more about your school's reopening after you get your owl tomorrow" interrupted Mrs. Weasley.

"Molly, please bring my dinner to the sitting room. I still have lots of paper work to do" pleaded Mr. Weasley.

"But, you just returned from your work..."

"I know Molly. But the war has put a toll on us. Lots of Ministry documents went missing when Voldemort gained control over the Ministry" replied Mr. Weasley.

"Ok then dear, I will bring your dinner to the sitting room" replied Mrs. Weasley.

**...**

As soon as Hermione finished eating, she went to the sitting room to talk with Mr. Weasley. The others were still being forced to eat more by Molly Weasley.

"Mr. Weasley?" Hermione called him.

"Yes, Hermione?"

"Will you do me a favor" asked Hermione.

"What is it Hermione?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"My parents are still in Australia…"

But Mr. Weasley interrupted her.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you about that. I have already informed Kingsley about your situation. He told me that after informing the Australian Minister of Magic, he will dispatch some oblivators to their home in order to help them regain their memories and bring them back here" replied Mr. Weasley.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Weasley"

**...**

As soon as Ron finished eating his dinner, he took Hermione by her arm and took her outside the Burrow.

"Hey, why did you provoke me in front of my mother?" asked Ron heatedly as he made an even tighter hold on her arm.

"Ron, you are hurting me" said Hermione in a painful voice.

"Sorry" said Ron quite bashfully, as he let go of her hand.

"What did I tell you about controlling your anger on the day of the funeral?" asked Hermione quietly.

"I am sorry, Hermione" Ron apologized again.

"You are forgiven" replied Hermione.

"But you still didn't answer my question. Why did you provoke me in front of my mother?" asked Ron.

"Because you are so damn cute when you are being provoked" replied Hermione cheekily.

"Damn cute, huh?" murmured Ron as he pulled her to him. He was about to kiss her when he heard the voice of someone clearing their throat from behind.

Hermione jumped away from his arms as if she was struck by a bolt of thunder.

"Sorry guys, carry on. I was looking for Ron since I didn't see him in his room. Don't worry. I won't interrupt you anymore" replied Harry.

"No Harry, I was about to go inside. You didn't interrupt anything" replied a flustered Hermione as she moved back inside the Burrow.

"But it sure didn't look that way to me" Harry replied cheekily to Ron.

"Sod off, Harry. You have been pulling my leg since that morning, when you woke me up using that disgusting name" replied Ron.

"What name, Ron?" asked Harry innocently.

"You know what I mean" replied Ron feeling quite exasperated.

"No, I don't" replied Harry.

"Won Won" replied Ron in a manner as if he was being forced to drink a bottle full of Skele-Gro.

"But you loved it when Lav-Lav called you like that" replied Harry.

"I never called her using that name" said Ron.

"Maybe you didn't, but you sure did call her Lav-Lav while you were sleeping…in your dreams" said Harry cheekily as he went inside the Burrow.

"I didn't……"murmured Ron feeling quite horrified.

**...**

"What happened, Ginny?" Hermione asked as she entered the room that she shared with Ginny.

"I am really confused about what to do with Harry. Is our past relationship good enough to continue on with?" replied Ginny as she paced around the room nervously.

"There is no time like the present. You go and have that talk with him "replied Hermione.

"But he might be sleeping in Ron's room" said Ginny exasperatedly.

"If I know Harry, he will be in the sitting room of the Burrow thinking about how he is going to live in a world with no Sirius, Dumbledore and no Voldemort. I don't mean that he actually misses Voldemort but after trying to live up to his destiny throughout his life, he is really confused about what he is going to with his life" replied Hermione.

"Hermione, can I ask you one question?" asked Ginny.

"Yes"

"Why are you looking so flustered?" asked Ginny.

"I...you… that is none of your business" said Hermione feeling even more flustered than before.

"Had some alone time with my spidey- terrified-little bro?" asked Ginny with a knowing look on her face.

"Ye…NO." replied Hermione.

"You are sure?" asked Ginny with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"Yes…..and Ginny, don't call Ron names" said Hermione.

"Little Hermione has a crush on my spidey-terrified-little-bro" sang Ginny.

"YOU…."replied Hermione and threw the pillow to where Ginny was previously standing.

But Ginny had already run out of the room.

**...**

After dinner that night, as everybody went to sleep, Harry sat in the Weasley's hall brooding about his life.

"Hey! Harry, What are you doing down here?" asked Ginny as she came downstairs in her nightdress.

"Just thinking" replied Harry.

"About……"

"Life in general" replied Harry.

"Ok"

"What are you doing down here Ginny?" asked Harry.

"I was trying to run away from Hermione and her pillow" replied Ginny with a little smile on her face.

"What about Hermione and her pillow?" wondered Harry.

"She was really shy when I asked her about the 'alone' time she had with Ron" said Ginny.

"Oh, about that" replied Harry with a laugh.

"What happened? Why are you laughing? Do you know something which I don't...?" asked Ginny quite eagerly.

"Slow down, Gin. You are asking too many questions at one time" said Harry.

"Ok then, what happened?" asked Ginny quite eagerly.

"I caught them snogging outside the Burrow. Hermione became flustered when she saw that I had caught up to their little act and ran out from there" replied Harry.

Ginny laughingly replied "I wish I could have seen her face. Ouch, no, Then I would have to see my brother too."

Harry laughed along with her.

They sat in silence for some time, each of them immersed in their own thoughts.

"Harry, I want to talk to you about something?" said Ginny quite uncomfortably.

"Tell me" said Harry with a thoughtful look on his face.

"I know this is not the right time to bring this all up. But I really want to know where our relationship stands" replied Ginny.

"I don't know, Ginny" replied Harry quite thoughtfully. "Throughout my life, I suffered either at the hands of the Dursley's or in the hands of Voldemort and his minions. Being with you, gave me a better outlook on life. But I still felt that there was something missing in our relationship. Maybe it was marred by the war. Maybe, it was Voldemort's soul doing silly things on my head. It felt as if his soul overcame all my real feelings and my real outlook on life and planted new feelings. I don't know. I am really confused. I really liked you and I like you still but I want some time away from relationships. I want to learn to adapt to a world free of Voldemort. I know, I am being a hypocrite….."

But Ginny interrupted him.

"No Harry, you are not being a hypocrite. I feel the same way too. Maybe not for the same reasons but I want to find out whether I really like you before we continue on with our relationship. Throughout my life, I was fascinated by the tale of Harry Potter and how he defeated the darkest wizard of all times. I want to clear all the doubts in my heart. If we are meant to be, we will be with each other soon again. If not, we will find our actual soul mates" replied Ginny.

"So ….. Friends for the time being, huh?" Harry smiled and held out his hand for her to shake.

"Yes, friends…" replied Ginny as she shook his hand.

**...**

**END NOTES:**

**I know it has been ages since I last updated. I was too lazy to continue on with this fic. But I got a really good inspiration yesterday and I had already completed the next five chapters.**

**I will post them as soon as I get lots of lovely reviews.**

PLEASE PLEASE leave a REVIEW.

Let me at least know whether you like this fic or not.

Even if you don't like it,

Never forget that,

Constructive CRITISICM IS ALWAYS WELCOME.


	4. Marred By Obscurity

**A/N: **Thank you for deciding to read my story. I do not own any characters associated with Harry Potter; they would all belong to JKR! Please read and review.

Special thanks to Fibinaci and gravacor for their kind reviews.

**I dedicate this chapter for my readers who were kind enough to leave a review for my last chapter. **Thank you so much for your lovely input.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

**CHAPTER 4**

**MARRED BY OBSCURITY?**

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

**(The next morning) **

"Hey guys" said Hermione as she entered the boys' room in the Burrow.

"Hey, Hermione" replied a sleepy Harry as he woke up from the bed.

"Where is Ron?" asked Hermione.

"You want to spend some proper time with him, huh? I know, I really ruined it yesterday but you don't have to be so desperate, Hermione" said Harry with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"Harry, I swear, you are being too cheeky since the last few days" replied Hermione infuriately.

"Only for you, my dear" replied Harry.

"HARRY…. I give up….I give up. Where is Ron?" asked Hermione.

"He might have gone to Weasley Wizarding Wheezes. He promised George that he would help him out" replied Harry while searching for something.

"Ok, then" Hermione was about to stand up and go out of the room when-

"Hermione, can you do me a favor? I was so drowsy last night that I don't remember where I kept my glasses. Will you please find it and give it to me?" Harry pleaded.

"After being cheeky to me for the last two days, I don't think I should help you anymore Harry" Hermione replied sneakily with a serious tone in her voice.

"Hermione, I know you won't do that to me. You are too good a friend to do something as horrid as that to me" Harry said with a sweet innocent look on his face.

"That means you are not a good friend of mine since you were so impish with me since the last few days" Hermione replied sneakily.

"I don't mean like that. What, I was trying to say was that you are a sweet little girl with a beautiful heart" Harry responded hurriedly.

"'That' would have worked on any other girl. But I know you too well to fall for your tricks, Harry. You will soon see that I am not as much of a sweet little girl as you think" Hermione made to stand up from the corner of Harry's bed when suddenly he caught hold of her hand.

She tumbled and fell on top of him and hit her head on the bed post.

"OUCH! Harry, what have you done?" Hermione asked groggily.

"I am sorry, Hermione" replied Harry remorsefully.

"I am going" Hermione again made to stand up from the bed. But she was again pulled down by a strong Harry.

"Hey! You can't go until you find out my glasses for me. I want to look at your injury too" replied Harry.

"You are so persistent, Harry" Hermione replied feeling quite exasperated.

"That's why you love me" Harry replied cheekily.

"Harry….."

"Sorry. So… will you find my glasses for me?" Harry asked.

"Your glasses are in your pajama pocket, you idiot" Hermione replied desperately.

"You could have told me 'that' ages ago" Harry replied cheekily while putting on his glasses.

"Yeah…Yeah...Yeah. I am going" Hermione again made to stand up but was again stopped by Harry who turned her around so that now, he was lying on top of her.

He said" I won't allow you to go until I check your wound."

"Harry, it's so sweet of you. But there is no need" Hermione replied.

"I insist" Harry said as he slowly ran his finger on her forehead to check the intensity of the wound.

Hermione closed her eyes on feeling Harry's hand on her face. While Harry muttered a healing spell, his voice struck a chord in her heart.

She slowly opened her eyes.

"Hermione I think it's alright now" said Harry while looking at her into her eyes for the first time since she landed on his bed.

They stared deeply into each others eyes with a look of bewilderment on their faces with confusing thoughts swarming around their brain. But they didn't recognize or didn't want to recognize the sense of peace and contentment in their hearts and souls.

"Hermione, Harry…. Where are you?" Ron's voice called from downstairs.

On hearing Ron's voice both of them jumped up from the bed as if woken up from a dream.

They stared at each other, looking slightly shocked.

"Uh! Ron is calling me. I need to go, Harry"

"Your wish is my command" Harry replied cheekily.

"Harry…Quit this entire cheeky attitude. And by the way you didn't think that my wish was your command when you didn't allow me to go out of this room for about three times in a row" Hermione replied and started to go out of the room. But as if remembering something she turned back and said-

"And Harry, I forgot to give you something"

"What is it Hermione?" Harry asked eagerly.

"This" Hermione replied while giving him a loud slap on his arm. With that she ran out of the room.

"OUCH! Hey! What was that for?" Harry asked the currently closed door.

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"Hermione" Mr. Weasley called her as she came down the stairs.

"Yes, Mr. Weasley"

"Shacklebolt called me through floo earlier this morning and told me that the Australian Minister of Magic has agreed to his proposition and that he had already dispatched the Oblivators to your parent's current home. They will be back in England by this evening" Mr. Weasley told her.

"Oh! Thank you, Mr. Weasley."

"You are welcome, my dear" Mr. Weasley replied with a smile on his face.

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After talking with Mr. Weasley, she sat down in a chair in the hall. She started brooding about her parents.

"Hermione, I was looking for you. Where were you?" Ron asked as soon as he saw her.

"I was upstairs with Harry. I was looking for the both of you but found that you were missing" Hermione replied.

"Oh… yeah" Ron replied vaguely but on seeing her depressed face, he asked "Hermione, Why are you looking so sad?"

"It's nothing…just some family issues" Hermione replied.

"What…" Ron started to ask.

"I will discuss it with both you and Harry after Harry comes downstairs. First I need to think about all these issues by myself" She replied and after giving him a kiss on the cheek, she went outside the Burrow to have a walk.

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That evening, when Ron and Harry were playing wizard chess in their room, Hermione interrupted them.

"Hey, guys. Can I ask a favor from both of you?" She asked hesitatingly.

"Of course, Hermione" replied the both of them.

She was silent for some time. On seeing her silent behavior, Harry asked in a caring voice" What happened, Hermione? Why are you so upset?"

On hearing this, tears started rolling out from Hermione's eyes.

On seeing this, Harry started to stand up from his seat to comfort her but Ron had already sat by her side and extended a scourgified handkerchief to her. Ron took her right hand in his and told her "Don't cry Hermione, we will always be there to help you and protect you"

"Oh! Thank you so much Ron" replied an over emotional Hermione and flung her arms around him.

On seeing this Harry felt an odd twist in his heart. He was confused by it for a minute. Then he thought "Oh! It is nothing. I am just feeling like an overprotective brother. Ron is my best friend but Hermione is not only my best friend, she is also like the sister I never had. It is natural that I won't like it when someone, even if it is Ron, touch her" With that his thoughts returned to the present.

"My parents are going to be back in England this evening. Mr. Weasley informed this morning that Minister Shacklebolt had dispatched some aurors for the cause" Hermione sobbed.

"But that is good news. Aren't you happy that you are going to see your parents this evening" Ron replied without giving it any further thought as usual.

"Of course, I am happy Ron. How could you even think that I wouldn't be happy to see my parents after such a long time?" Hermione replied feeling angry and a tad bit frustrated with Ron.

"Then, Why..." Ron started to ask but Harry interrupted Ron to prevent him from making a fool out of himself.

"Ron, it is not that Hermione is not happy to meet her parents. It is just that she is afraid to face them after facing all these ordeals. For god's sake Ron, she even wiped their memories so that she could accompany us on the Horcrux hunt" Harry replied.

"Oh, I am sorry Hermione" Ron replied.

"It is ok, Ron" replied Hermione while wiping her wet eyes with Ron's handkerchief.

"Hermione, in the beginning of this conversation you were about to ask us a favor…." Harry asked.

"Yes, about that…Would you guys please accompany me to my parents' home this evening?" Hermione asked in a pleading voice.

"We will be happy to accompany you, Hermione" Harry replied sweetly while Ron nodded his head at her to give his approval of the decision.

Hermione smiled on hearing their approval. She thought that she was the luckiest girl in the world to have such good friends.

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END NOTES:

I know, I know, both of them are blind to their feelings.

If you think that this story resembles some other fics (I don't think so, because I have tried to make it as different as possible from all the fics which I have read in fanfiction, but still as a precaution in case of stories which I haven't read yet), don't worry; the track of this story is going to change completely as soon as it reaches the seventh chapter (JKR's magical number) or fourteenth chapter (I am not sure yet). After that you will slowly start recognizing why this story is called TIME AND TIDE WAITS FOR NO ONE.

**Hey! Guys and girls,**

**I am starting to think that you don't like this fic. Only a few people have reviewed and it has left me quite broken hearted. This low number of reviews had left me so disheartened that I didn't want to post this chapter or the upcoming few chapters which I had already completed ages ago.**

**Will you PLEASE leave me a REVIEW? It will make me really happy.**

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